Peter Block, is an author, consultant and citizen of Cincinnati, Ohio. His work is about chosen accountability, and the reconciliation of community.

Peter is the author of several best selling books. The most widely known being Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used (1st edition 1980, revised 1999); Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self-Interest (1993) and The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work (1987). ). Peter is the recipient of the Organization Development Network’s 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2004 he received their first place Members’ Choice Award, which recognized Flawless Consulting as the most influential book for OD practitioners over the past 40 years.

His latest book is Community: The Structure of Belonging (Berrett Koehler 2008). He has also authored. The Answer to How Is Yes: Acting on What Matters which won the 2002 Independent Publisher Book Award for Business Breakthrough Book of the Year. Freedom and Accountability at Work: Applying Philosophic Insight to the Real World, was co-authored with consultant and philosopher Peter Koestenbaum (Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2001).

“The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods,” co-authored with John McKnight, will be published by Berrett Koehler in spring 2010.

The books are about ways to create workplaces and communities that work for all. They offer an alternative to the patriarchal beliefs that dominate our culture. His work is to bring change into the world through consent and connectedness rather than through mandate and force.

He is a partner in Designed Learning, a training company that offers workshops designed by Peter to build the skills outlined in his books.

Peter serves on the Boards of Directors of Cincinnati Classical Public Radio and Elementz, a Hip Hop urban youth center. He is on the Advisory Board for the Festival in the Workplace Institute, Bahamas. He is the first Distinguished Consultant-in-Residence at Xavier University. With other volunteers in Cincinnati, Peter began A Small Group, whose work is create a new community narrative and to bring his work on civic engagement into being.

He has received national awards for outstanding contributions in the field of training and development, including the American Society for Training and Development Award for Distinguished Contributions; the Association for Quality and Participation President’s Award; and Training Magazine HRD Hall of Fame.

Peter’s office is in Mystic, Connecticut. You can visit his websites at www.peterblock.com, www.designedlearning.com, and www.asmallgroup.net. He welcomes being contacted at pbi@att.net.